If I was rating just one of the episodes I would probably rate it at 9 or 10. The only reason I dropped to overall rating to 7 is that each episode is basically the same, concentrating on the medical trauma and the intervention. There is a slight story running in the back ground but it´s weak at best. A stronger underlying story would make this series so much better. An excellent example of that is the series Bodies which is in the same genre but because it had a great story as well as the raw medical content it was just brilliant. But even as only a seven, still well worth watching.

If you like blood and guts (and nothing else), this one is for you! Other than a constant showing of gory scenes from the OR, this series has absolutely nothing in it. We do not get to know any of the protagonists or any of the victims. Consequently we are left emotionless, we do not care what happens to any of them, if the victims live or die, for in this series they are reduced to nothing more than lumps of meat.One more mishap was that Lennie James in the principal role was totally miss-cast. He comes through more like an NFL linebacker than a surgeon. He is outright intimidating... Only Catherine Walker is salvageable as Dr. Fiona Lomas (and she looks very sexy as well). I do not know how realistic the OR scenes in the series really are, but even if they were perfect (which I doubt) that is nowhere nearly enough to salvage the series. No wonder it was axed so soon. Sad really, we have gotten used to great made for TV products coming out of the UK. This is definitely not one of them.

I came here after seeing Line of Duty (which I rate 10/10) from the same creator. I knew it was a medical show and having seen House and others, I knew what I was getting into.The problem with this show is the same problem with many medical shows. They're procedurals. Every week you get a new patient who is treated and released by the end of the episode. It's a formulaic format, even if they come up with new and original injuries every week.Because the patients are disposable characters and story lines, the show needs continuity, so it finds it in office romances, gossip and office politics. This creates a reversed situation from serials. Serials have a main story arc that runs throughout the season and the little gossip, romances and love interests are the side dish. For example, you tune in to Line of Duty (same creator: Mercurio and same star, Lennie James) and you're curious as to what the next step is for the Gates investigation. You're curious about the professional work, not the gossip.Here it's the opposite. Since you can't tell who the next patient is, you're only left with gossip and office romances that have continuity. There is some office politics and bureaucratic power plays, but they're so minor that no one could care.There's not enough gossip to keep it interesting for people that like Grey's Anatomy and there's not enough continuity for everyone else to tune in. I myself don't care for the office romances and politics, and since patients only last an episode, there's no reason to care about them either.There's no way around this in a medical show. House MD goes around this and makes it about ethics and hard choices. But here the patients are slabs of meat and can't say or do anything.People simply prefer shows with more continuity now. That's why In Treatment worked because it's continuous, same patients, same cases. A conveyor belt of patients gets boring quickly.That's what happened to this show, even though everything else was very, very good.

There are many medical TV shows out there but when I saw this advertised it looked different. Ever since I started watching I've been on the edge of my seat, and eagerly anticipating the next episode!! I can't rate Critical enough! In my opinion the acting of all the actors is amazing and the choreography and fluency of the characters is funny and enjoyable. The medical jargon and realism seem pretty outstanding (mainly because I don't get half of it)! But arguably most of all, the quality of the plot and the quality of the makeup for the surgery/injuries just takes my breath away!I'm so hoping for a second season and one just isn't enough! Both me and my sister love sitting down and watching it together! And you should try it too!!